“Risk sentiment remained relatively unchanged as markets took a breather following the recent run. However, there were some positives to take out of the U.S. session, with durable goods orders coming in well ahead of expectations,” said Stan Shamu, strategist at IG Markets.

The Nikkei reported that the recent rally for the Japanese market will lift profits at the banks, which are shareholders in some of the companies that have seen sharp share price gains. Higher stock prices have also pushed up commissions from sales of investment trusts and other products, the report said.

The firm reported late Monday that its quarterly net profit almost doubled from a year earlier, due in part to the popularity of smartphones. The company also raised its fiscal-year smartphone sales target to 8.45 million units from a previous forecast of 8 million units.

Australian investors were also buying into stocks considered less leveraged to economic growth trends, with blood products group CSL Ltd.
CSL, +0.57%US:CMXHY
up 3.7% and Cochlear Ltd.
COH, +0.60%CHEOY, -1.02%
higher by 0.9% in the health care sector.

“The uptrend in [Australian] defensive stocks again can be correlated to the sell-off in bonds. With further interest rate cuts ‘expected,’ investors are scrambling to shore up income,” said Shamu at IG Markets.

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